Is the Gulistan
the most influential book in the
Iranian world? In terms of prose, it is the model, which all writers of
Persian
seek to emulate. In terms of moral, philosophical or practical wisdom,
it is
endlessly quoted to either illustrate or prove a point. Sir John
Malcolm even
relates being told that it is the basis of the law of the Persians. It
also
traveled abroad. Voltaire, Goethe, Arnold, Longfellow, Emerson,
Thoreau,
Melville, and Franklin discovered, read, and took inspiration from the
work. Moreover,
travelers to Iran
have often point out that to understand the mind of the inhabitants,
one should
read the Gulistan.

Written some seven and a half
centuries ago by Sa’di of
Shiraz the Gulistan or Rose Garden
is a collection of moral
stories divided into eight themes: “The Conduct of
Kings,” “The Character of
Dervishes,” “The Superiority of
Contentment,” “The Benefits of Silence,”
“Love
and Youth,” “Feebleness and Old Age,”
“The Effects of Education,” and “The Art
of Conversation.” In each section stories are told from which
the reader learns
how to behave in a given situation. Sa’di can be moral.
“Honesty gives God
pleasure. I haven’t seen anyone get lost on the right
road.” He may be
practical. “If you can’t stand the sting,
don’t put your finger into a
scorpion’s hole.” He is philosophical in these
lines which are engraved at the
entrance of the United Nations: “The members of the human
race are limbs one to
another, for at creation they were of one essence. When one limb is
pained by
fate, the others cannot rest.”

The Gulistan is
considered the essence of elegant but
simple Persian prose. For 600 years, it was the first book placed in
the
learner’s hand. In Persian-speaking countries today,
quotations from the Gulistan
appear in every conceivable type of literature and is the source of
numerous
everyday proverbial statements, much as Shakespeare is in English.

This is the first complete English
translation of the Gulistan
in more than a century. Wheeler M. Thackston, Professor of Persian at HarvardUniversity,
has faithfully translated
Sa’di into clear contemporary English. To help the student,
the original
Persian is presented facing the English translation. A 3,600 word
Persian-English and Arabic-English glossary is included to aide with
the more difficult
meanings.

The Gulistan is
imbued with a practical wisdom of
life. Sa’di recognizes people for what they are. Every
personality type that
exists is found in the Rose Garden, the good, the
bad, the weak, the
strong, the pious, the impious, honest folk, and the most conniving of
cheats.
Hypocrites abound, foolish kings appear with their wily ministers, wise
rulers
vie with their malevolent courtiers, boastful young warriors turn tail
and run.
The beauty of Sa’di’s wisdom is that it is
timeless. What is expressed is in a
setting so close and familiar to the modern experience that it is as
relevant
today as it was six hundred years ago.

AUTHOR

Wheeler
M. Thackston is Professor
of the Practice of Persian at HarvardUniversity
where he has
taught for more than 30 years. He is also the author of other books
including:
An Introduction to Persian; A Millennium of Classical Persian Poetry;
An
Introduction to Koranic and Classical Arabic; and An Introduction to
Syriac.